


The Present I've Always Wanted

by Izupie



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Awkward Flirting, Fluff, Keith finally gets a happy birthday, Keith's Birthday Week 2017, Keith/Lance (Voltron) Fluff, M/M, Rough Kissing, a sprinkle of angst, but before episode 5, god these dorks ruin me, its 2am what am i doing here, keith's birthday, post season 4 episode 4
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-27
Updated: 2017-10-27
Packaged: 2019-01-23 20:11:47
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,866
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12515604
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Izupie/pseuds/Izupie
Summary: Keith gets a break from Marmora missions when Kolivan sets up a meeting with Shiro at the Castle of Lions, and he gets one precious night at home in the ship again. Coincidentally it just happens to also be the night of his birthday. Keith is entirely disillusioned with birthdays, but if he had to ask for something, he'd have to admit that it was apersonhe wanted more than anything.And that person just knocked on his bedroom door.





	The Present I've Always Wanted

**Author's Note:**

> I'm writing fanfiction at 2am again because I make excellent life choices. 
> 
> Happy Birthday Keith! I was only a few days late!  
> Gotta admit this was totally self-indulgent Klance birthday fluff (with a touch of angst because it hurts so good)
> 
> (Dedicated to my friend Kayosei - happy birthday to you too! Enjoy the Klance!)

Keith finally let his shoulders relax as the door to his room swished shut behind him, and he leaned on it heavily, letting out a long breath. It was nice; spending a night at home. Keith chuckled at the unexpected thought and closed his eyes with a small smile. Just when did the Castle of Lions become ‘home’ to him?

It’s not even like they’d been in the Castle all that long, but already he could feel the mix of relief and comfort in returning, and the sense of peace the familiarity gave him. It practically sang through his bones. He’d never had this kind of experience before; homes and families were for people with consistency in their lives. Not him. How could a small room in an alien ship be affecting him this strongly?

A knock on his door made Keith leap forward in surprise. He’d already caught up with the others when he’d arrived a little while ago, so he wasn’t sure why he would have any visitors now. He glanced at his bed longingly with tired eyes. Sleeping arrangements were obviously not a priority to the members of the Blade of Marmora, since Keith had regularly been sleeping on hard bunks for the two months he’d been gone, or even the floor if the other members were taking up the beds (he suspected it was his Galra/Human lineage that gave him a mixed response from the others, despite being a Paladin of Voltron). And that was only if they weren’t out in the field on a mission, as Kolivan then expected them to work without luxuries like sleep until the job was done.

In fact, he was probably the one at the door - changed his mind, and they were going to head back to his ship instead of staying the night.

The knock came again, and Keith finally said, “Yes?” though it came out a little sharper than he intended. The bedroom door swished open at his invitation. “Lance?” Keith blurted out, unsure if the surprise in his voice was because he had genuinely thought it was going to be Kolivan, or because of just how pleased he was to see Lance standing in the doorway.

“Hey.” Lance grinned as he entered the room, and oddly continued to face forwards as he backed into the control panel on the wall to close the door behind him, which made Keith notice that he was holding his hands awkwardly behind his back. Like he was hiding something. “Thought I’d come and see how our favourite rebel bad-boy is doing.” He continued breezily with a wink.

Keith scoffed and scowled. “Uh, pretty sure everyone in the Blades prefers the title ‘Freedom Fighters’ thanks.”

“Ooh, you’re ‘ _The Blades_ ’ now?” Lance removed one of the hands from behind his back and wiggled his fingers in the air as he said ‘the blades’.

Keith tried hard to stop the corners of his mouth twitching into a smile. He really tried. But flirting with Lance always did something strange to the speed of his heart and the ridiculous butterflies in his stomach, and he always ended up smiling so much when they were together. “And don’t call me ‘bad-boy’, what are you from, the nineties?” He folded his arms in an attempt to offset the grin he knew he was wearing and Lance laughed in response.

“Hey, the nineties produced some excellent content my man.” He nodded. “See now you’ve made me wanna sing the Pokémon theme tune...”

“Don’t you dare,” Keith grumbled, his voice thick with humour and affection.

“I wanna be the very best,” Lance sang loudly, deliberately squawking off-key, “like no one ever wa- mphh-” Keith had closed the distance between them in a couple of swift strides and placed his gloved hand over Lance’s mouth. He could feel Lance’s smile under his hand, even through the thick glove.

“You are the actual worst.” Keith mumbled, staring straight up into bright blue eyes that were shining with a wicked mischief.

After being away for two months he had been a little bit worried that whatever had been happening between the two of them before he left might have diminished, or that the strength of the feelings he had for Lance was something he had exaggerated in his mind. But that didn’t seem to be the case at all. If anything, being apart had made his feelings that much stronger. It had been so great to see everyone again; Hunk had cried, Pidge gushed on excitedly all about her brother, Allura gave him a hug, hell so did Shiro, and Coran told him he’d saved him some memorabilia from ‘Voltron On Ice’ (which Keith had conveniently forgotten to bring up again before he’d gone to bed). But when he saw Lance he just hadn’t known what to do... No. That was a lie... He’d known what he _wanted_ to do. But....

With considerable effort Keith pushed away his inner musings, and removed his hand from Lance’s mouth. Only then did he realise Lance hadn’t put up any kind of resistance because both his hands were still behind his back. Time to get to the bottom of this mystery. “So what’s behind your back anyway?” He continued in what he hoped was a steady voice.

Lance’s playful grin faded, and he cleared his throat a little while he looked up at the ceiling. “Uh...”

Keith raised an eyebrow.

“Well, we went back to the Space Mall- I don’t know if you managed to catch any of our shows? I was pretty great in them by the way. Though it turned out that Coran was under some kind of whacked out mind control thing the whole time-”

“What?” Keith managed through a bemused chuckle, barely keeping up with what Lance was saying, and not at all understanding how this was going to lead to what he was hiding.

“Yeah, it was as weird as it sounds.” Lance wrinkled his nose as if he couldn’t quite decide whether he found the memories funny or traumatic. Which Keith found adorable. Lance continued, unaware of the effect he was having on him, “So anyway, while we were at the Space Mall I thought I’d have another look around and I... I don’t know. I kind of missed you a lot,” he shifted and looked away and Keith’s chest constricted tightly. The Lance that everyone was so used to seeing; so self-assured and smooth talking, was just one of his layers, but Keith knew that beneath all that bravado was a core full of doubt and uncertainty, and he often wondered if he was one of the only people to have seen this vulnerable side to him. “And this reminded me of you.” Lance finished quietly, pushing his hands forward.

A long, thin red box was pushed towards Keith, tied up with a lopsided blue ribbon.

At first, he just stared at the package, unable to think of what to say, so Lance filled the awkward silence, “We’d been making a load of Gak from our performances - Shiro said we shouldn’t have kept the money, but if they’re practically throwing it at us it would have been rude to refuse,” he shrugged, “and the Unilu I bought it from said he’d do me a special price because I was one of the performers. It seemed like something you’d like.”

Keith wordlessly took the box from Lance and pulled the ribbon loose, then opened the lid to reveal a thick, slightly curved knife with a black handle. He recognised it instantly from the last time they’d gone to the Space Mall together.

“I saw him cut up rocks and whole melons and cool junk like that.” Lance, now with his hands free, made wide chopping motions with his hands in the air, adding his own whooshing sound effect with each swing. But Keith still hadn’t said anything, and he was still just looking at the package, so Lance awkwardly shoved his hands in his pockets. “But it’s fine if you don’t want it; because I already know you have a knife, and yours is like a magic-Galra-knife and everything... Now that I think about it, this was kind of a lame gift, I’m usually way better at the whole gift giving thing,” he laughed, but there was no humour in it.

“What, Lance no, I... I really love it,” Keith choked out, “I can’t believe you got something like this for me. I... Don’t even know what to say... I just really didn’t expect this. How did you know it was my birthday?”

“Your birth.... Woah. No no no. Hold the phone. It’s your _birthday?_ As in, _today?_ ” Lance sputtered.

“You didn’t know?” Keith’s eyes widened in his genuine surprise.

“Of course not!” Lance threw his hands in the air.

“So what was the present for?” Keith was so sure he’d never told anyone about his birthday, and that was what had shocked him the most; that somehow Lance had found out. He hadn’t had a present on his birthday in so many years, and yet there one suddenly was, and he just couldn’t even process it. He’d realised it was his birthday of course, something like that wasn’t easy to completely forget, but it went to the back of his mind every year and he never really gave it much thought.

Lance’s voice was high in indignation, his hands still in the air, “If I’d have known it was your birthday I’d have got you much more than this - and cake! Hunk would have baked you a cake. We’d have all celebrated it with you! I can’t believe you didn’t tell anyone it was your birthday.”

Keith walked across the room and silently placed his present down on the side table next to his door, his back now to Lance.

“Because,” he sighed, not turning around, “I don’t want it to be this big special day I build up in my mind, and then be let down again. It’s no different to any other day, so why should I or anyone else treat it differently.” He folded his arms tight over his chest.

“Keith....” Lance whispered. “Don’t... shut yourself off from everyone. I don’t know who hurt you in the past,” there was a sharp edge to his voice that Keith hadn’t heard before, “but they were complete and utter quiznaking assholes. And you know what, I don’t even care who I’ve insulted, because they hurt you and made you have this weird idea that you can’t have a great day that’s all about you, and that’s just... that’s just _wrong_.”

“It’s just a birthday Lance. It’s okay, I came to terms with it a long time ago - they don’t mean anything.” Keith snapped, wishing he didn’t get angry when he got emotional, and blinking rapidly to clear his blurry vision. There was no way he was turning around now. He didn’t want Lance to see him cry like an idiot.

“No. No it’s not okay - this is your day. You deserve a day Keith. You deserve all the days.”

Keith jumped as he felt arms snake around his middle just under his folded arms, and tensed all over as his body was pulled so that his back was pressed firmly to Lance’s front. His skin burned under his tight Blades suit where Lance’s hands rested at the top of his stomach, and his hood was still up but he could feel Lance’s cheek resting on his head. Keith’s pulse was racing, but finally his body relaxed into the gentle embrace, and only then did he realise that the tears he’d been trying to blink away were sliding rapidly down his cheeks.

“I missed you so much. Even your mullet.” Lance’s voice was choked with emotion. Keith managed a shaky laugh at that as he furiously rubbed at his eyes. “I didn’t know when we’d see you again,” Lance continued softly, “and everything I saw reminded me of you. I tried flirting with all my fans after the shows because I thought that would help.” Keith felt his shrug through his back and shivered at the motion.

“Did it?” He asked honestly, a pang of jealousy joining the crazy-train of emotions racing through his heart.

“... No.” Lance’s grip tightened. “They weren’t you,” he mumbled into the back of Keith’s hood. “And then after the show at the Space Mall I managed to escape all the groupies and I saw that Unilu chopping up junk with that knife and I knew I had to get it for you.” Lance’s voice became sad, “You have to know I wouldn’t have let you down if you’d have told me it was your birthday, you could have had presents from everyone and a party and cake - I would have made your day special - we all would have. It doesn’t matter if you don’t consider yourself a Paladin of Voltron right now, because you are no matter what. You’re still my Team Leader.”

Lance pulled his hands away and stepped backwards so suddenly Keith felt as if the air had been knocked out of him. He heard Lance sniffing and he wiped away his own fresh tears too. This was not at all what he had been expecting tonight.

“Oh wow, I am being such a downer on your birthday!” Lance said through a stretch and a forced laugh. “And way too forward. You know what, we should just start again from me saying ‘it’s your birthday _today_?’, you can be grumpy about it and I’ll just say goodnight and lea-”

Keith wasn’t sure what had made him turn around and close the gap between them. But suddenly his hands were gripped either side of Lance’s face and he’d pushed their lips together with a force that almost hurt. Lance responded instantly, pulling down the hood on his suit and running his hands through his messy hair, sending sharp waves of pleasure down his spine and into the pit of his stomach. Their kiss was hungry, full of raw emotion and a release of tension that they’d been dancing around for far too long. He didn’t even realise they had moved until he felt his back hit the door, and let out a breath that was snatched by Lance through their frantic kisses. Their bodies pressed together firmly as Keith’s hands went from Lance’s face to his hips, pulling him even closer, as if there wasn’t an inch of himself that he didn’t want to not feel against the other.

Their frantic pace was impossible to hold for long though, and both boys eventually pulled back for air, gasping with a mixture of pleasure and want and love. And the need for oxygen.

Keith was still breathing heavily, most of Lance’s body still pressed against him, and he gazed hard into a sight he had always wanted to see; those ocean blue eyes filled with love looking back at him.

Lance smiled widely and laughed in a way Keith wanted to never stop hearing. “And I thought _I_ was being forward. You just had to go one step further and one-up me didn’t you.”

Keith mirrored his expression and linked his fingers behind Lance’s neck. “It’s what I do best apparently,” he smirked, “and you were talking about leaving and I couldn’t have that.”

“Well, it is your birthday.” Lance agreed, voice husky.

But Keith’s smile faltered, “Lance, I still have to leave in the morning. I... I don’t think I’m ready to be a Paladin again yet. But... will you wait for me? It’s wrong for me to ask you that I know...”

“Keith. I’ve been waiting for you this whole time - ever since we were in the Garrison together. I can wait a little longer. I mean, there’s no promises that guys and girls won’t be throwing themselves at me, but I’m pretty sure I can keep them away if it’s for you,” Lance winked, but he shifted his hips and Keith closed his eyes at the unexpected pleasure it buzzed through his skin. There were perks to a skin-tight suit beyond combat after all.

“And thanks,” Keith said quietly, trying to regain composure, “for the present. And for trying to restore my faith in birthdays. That’s the first birthday present I’ve gotten in a long time.” It was probably the best birthday he’d ever had in all honesty, and he was so grateful for it. This was something he had never even dreamed would happen, and it was almost dizzying to believe that his feelings were reciprocated.

“Oh no, the knife wasn’t your birthday present.” Lance shook his head and Keith noticed a red hue to the tips of his ears. He was glad he wasn’t the only one feeling a little awkward and embarrassed about all this, even though it felt so right and good.

“No?” Keith almost gasped, as Lance rocked his hips again, putting a hand tenderly under Keith’s chin to tilt his head back and bring their lips so close he could feel his breath on them as he spoke, until the words were almost lost in another kiss.

“Happy Birthday.”


End file.
